School wants to test all students for drugs

Wednesday

Apr 18, 2012 at 1:00 AM

Idea proposed by Imagine School at North Port raises questions of civil rights

By CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL

Students as young as 11 years old would be tested for use of marijuana, pills, cocaine and heroin under a proposal by a North Port charter school that wants to institute the region's most aggressive student testing program.

Imagine School at North Port hopes to begin drug testing students at its junior high school campus next school year, including sixth-graders. Students would be required to pass a drug test to attend the school and pass at least one random drug test per year to remain enrolled.

The school has not finalized how its policy would work, but officials — who are seeking School Board approval of the program — want to test each student at least once a year.

Students randomly selected for testing would be required to submit urine for analysis. Typically such tests can reveal use of marijuana, cocaine and heroin and some prescription drugs. Each test would cost $4 per person. The school would pay for the program.

Students who tested positive would get referred to drug counseling. Students who continue to test positive would be remove from Imagine and asked to return to their zoned district school.

The proposal has raised questions about whether the testing would violate a student's Fourth Amendment right not to be subject to unreasonable search.

But boosted by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a small number of public school districts in Florida, including in Manatee County, already drug test athletes and students involved in extracurricular activities.

But the high court stopped short of allowing blanket testing of all students as proposed by Imagine School at North Port, which is run by a management company that operates 75 schools in 12 states including 17 in Florida.

"This potentially at least is violating constitutional rights of students," Sarasota School Board Attorney Art Hardy advised School Board members at a meeting Tuesday. "If they can do it, I don't know why others can't."

But any legal objections by the board would be murky because the district has allowed Sarasota Military Academy, also a charter school, to drug test its students since 2004.

Officials there began testing after obtaining a legal opinion from the Florida Department of Education's Office of General Counsel. It stated that students who elect to attend the academy with its rigorous dress code and discipline "subject themselves to a degree of regulation even higher than that imposed on students generally."

Hardy said the Imagine School has a more traditional school curriculum.

Justin Matthews, head of Imagine School at North Port, said drug testing would make the campus safer for students and provide children a cast-iron excuse to opt out when friends pressure them to try an illegal substance.

More than 70 percent of teenagers aged between 15 and 17 reported using alcohol or illicit drugs, according to the 2010 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey.

"It's very clear that students in this area at some time will probably be exposed to at least the potential to try illegal drugs," Matthews said. "This is one more thing the school is trying to do in our local area to be part of the solution."

Matthews said existing students whose parents objected to testing could be exempted, but the policy would not be optional for new students.

"We certainly are not looking to violate any person's civil liberties," Matthews said. "We're trying to create a culture of awareness and positive choices."

He said the final policy has not been written, including which grade levels would be tested. An email sent to the school district states that testing would be for grade six and up.

Advocates of drug testing students say it works by deterring students from trying drugs.

In Manatee County, 17 students out of 700 tested gave positive tests in 2008. The number fell to just 4 out of 872 tests in the last school year.

Sarasota Military averages about 3 positive tests per year, said Principal Dan Kennedy. "I know a lot of kids' futures have been saved by this policy," Kennedy said.

But civil rights advocates say the random tests are unconstitutional.

"They are inviting a legal challenge based on violation of the Fourth Amendment," said Derek Newton, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Imagine's proposal could lead it into a clash with the Sarasota County School Board.

Charter schools - which are publicly funded but privately run — operate under a charter granted by the local school board or in some instances by the state.

Board members indicated Tuesday they have no intention of amending the charter for the Imagine school, mainly because they fear the district could then be liable if there was a legal challenge to testing.